Sigur Ros

Biography

Three teenagers - Jon Thor Birgisson, Georg Holm and Agust Gunnarsson, formed this post rock band in August 1994. They called their collective Sigur Ros, which means "the rose of victory", in honor of the sister of one of the band members - they formed the band on her birthday. Soon the promising artists received the contract with the Icelandic recording studio Bad Taste and there released their debut Von. In 1998, keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson joined Sigur Ros. In 1999, the band released the disc Agaetis Byrjun, which became its breakthrough on the world scene. The music of the collective started to appear in serials and films, including the famous picture Vanilla Sky. Sigur Ros became the favorites of the public for their fancies - falsetto and guitar play with a cello bow by Birgisson, otherworldly string arrangements by Sveinsson, the artificial language of their songs.

The Hopelandic language that does not exist, it was invented by the artists to let the listeners the opportunity to put any sense in the songs and is very similar to Icelandic by sounding. The neat full-length ( ) was fully recorded in that language. Sigur Ros also saw the lineup modification - Orri Páll Dýrason replaced Agust, who left the band. Psychedelic rock tracks from ( ) lasted approximately about eight minutes and amused the listeners with the emotional charge. In 2003, Sigur Ros cooperated with Radiohead over some tracks creation for the album Split Sides by Merce Cunningham. On the album Takk, recorded in 2005, the musicians paid attention to pop genre, making an accent on the guitar sound and shortening the duration of their songs. It is well observable on the Hoppipolla single.

In 2007, Sigur Ros released the collection of b-sides and acoustic versions of their hits under the name of Havarf/Heim. It featured new interpretations of Von, Staralfur, Vaka and other famous compositions of the band. It also contained earlier unreleased and interesting tracks. In 2008, the musicians finished their work over the fifth studio creation with the lengthy title Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust. The album was recorded with the appearance of the London Sinfonietta and the London Oratory Boy's Choir. Firstly, this work hailed the transition of Sigur Ros to pop music and more positive sounding. Secondly, the quartet recorded the first composition in English, All Alright. In 2009 Sigur Ros released the compilation album We Play Endlessly, which includes songs from band’s previous albums and EPs.

Studio Albums

The new album by the Icelandic outfit Sigur Ros called Valtari shows how comfortable they feel playing their original style. The band shows no desire to change, which is but likely to make listeners happy

Takk (Icelandic for "thanks") is allegedly Sigur Ros's mainstream album. It has singalong tunes and it even has track names. It is a warmer, more orchestral take on the band's defining sound, and easily their most instantly accessible record to date

Singles

Compilation albums

Sigur Ros' album Hvarf/Heim consists of two parts: Hvarf contains new studio versions of previously unreleased songs that could be heard only on live performances, and Heim is a shorter part offering the acoustic versions of a few compositions